Levi mcnall



(No Modl.)

R (it E i i l w E Lb L L 1 j WITNESSES:

' L. MQNALL. Fence PatentedApril 26,1881.

NPEIERS. PHDTO-LITHOGRAFHER. WASHINGTON. EC,

INVENTOR 2.

ATTORNEYS.

from the other.

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVI MONALL, OF ALLEGANY, NEW YORK.

FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,741, dated April 26, 1881. Application filed December 23, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEVI MGNALL, of Allegany, in the county of Oattarangus and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Fence; andI do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention is an improvement in the class of wooden fences which are self supporting without the aid of posts set in the earth, and whose independent panels are connected so as to adapt them to be readily detached one My improvements pertain to the construction and arrangement of the posts in connection with the rails of the fence, and also to other features, hereinafter described I and claimed.

more boards, D D, which are placed and secured betweenthe rails. The rails B B are made suftlciently thick to insure the required lengthwise strength and rigidity of the panels, and provided with three vertical mortises or s1otsone mortise being in the middle of the length of a rail, and another near each end of the same. These mortises are made sufficiently large to receive the posts A and wedges O,by which latter the rails are secured therein.

Said posts are light parallel-sided pieces of timber, and rest on the surface of the ground, in place of entering it, as usual.

1n constructing a panel the ends of posts A are inserted through the mortises of rails B B until about one-fifth their length pro- 5 jects above-and below the respective rails, as

shownin Fig. 1. The wooden wedges U are then driven in between the posts and end walls of the rail-mortises, thus securing the rails firmly in place. The panel-boards D are then intertwined with the posts A-that-is to say, they are bent around the middle post, and their ends rest against the opposite sides of the end posts. Small nails are used to secure the boards in place; but by the arrangement shown the boards will not become detached from the posts in case the nails drop out. The ends of the rails B B are bored vertically to receive pins E, which pivot or hinge the panels together, as shown.

The panels are set in zigzag or angular relation, or like the different rail-sections of what is known as the Virginia or worm fence, which position renders the fence sclf-supporting, so that it is unnecessary to dig holes and fix the posts in the earth, or to drive stakes, or

employ other supplemental means for holding up the fence.

Any panel of the fence may be detached from either of its neighbors and swing on the opposite hinged end, being thus adapted to serve as a gate to allow passage of cattle,

wagons, &c., at any point in the line offence.

The wedges 0 will ordinarilyprevent the rails B B from sliding down on the posts A but to obviate such contingency I propose to nail small cleats b, Fig. 1, to one of each three posts, directly beneath the inner end of each panel-rail.

When the fence is to be set up on a side hill or declivity, the post-mortises may be cut with their end walls inclined correspondingly, so that the posts A maybe set vertical, and consequently inclined to the plane of the declivity, Fig. 3.

The constructionof the posts A and the rail-mortises, and also the means (wedges G) for'securing the rails on the posts, particularl y adapt the fence for uneven ground, since any one of the posts may be readily adjusted higher or lower to give it a firm foundation, as illustratedgin the left-hand portion of Fig. 1, wherein the middle post is shown set in aconcavity or hollow.

I am aware boards have been arranged in connection with posts as I have described and shown, and also that in iron fences the horizontal bars have been secured to the posts by wedges or keys inserted between the posts and metallic blocks, to which the rails are eonboards D, intertwined with the three posts,

nected. and the pivot-pins E, applied for connectingthe What I claim ispanels, as shown and described. The combination of the parallel-sided wood- LEVI MONALL. 5 en posts, the horizontal rails having mortises, Witnesses: 1.

as described, and perforations in their ends 0. 0. HAMILTON,

to receive pivot-pins E, the wedges C, and AMOS W. HART. 

